Folding mop and compression wringing means therefor



Aug. 11, 1959 S. P. DUNBAR FOLDING MOP AND COMPRESSION WRINGING MEANS THEREFOR Filed Jan. 6, 1958 Fig. 3

' Spur gem P. Dunbar INVENTOR.

BY A ww m United States Patent FOLDING MOP AND COMPRESSION WRINGING MEANS THEREFOR The present invention generally relates to a novel concept in the construction of mops and more particularly relates to that type of mop having a sponge-like mop head together with means for squeezing excessive water from the mop head without the necessity of stooping or otherwise engaging the mop head with the hands.

The primary object of the present invention is to pro vide a mop construction incorporating a sponge member on the head thereof with the head being constructed of a pair of pivotal plates for squeezing the sponge head together with an elongated handle having remote means for squeezing the sponge head from the upper end of the handle thus enabling operation of the mop without the person using the same stooping over or otherwise manually squeezing the sponge head by engagement of the hands therewith.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide a mop construction in accordance with the preceding objects in which the operating mechanism for squeezing the sponge head of the mop is extremely simple in construction, easy to use, well adapted for its intended purposes and otherwise relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure ,1 is a perspective view of a mop constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a detailed sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 22 of Figure 1 illustrating the handle for operating the flexible member; and

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 33 of Figure 1 illus trating further structural details of the mop and the wringing position in dotted lines.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, the numeral generally designates the mop construction of the present invention including a backing member generally designated by the numeral 12 and a handle generally designated by the numeral 14.

The backing member 12 is of substantially rigid construction and includes a first or outer section 16 and a second or inner section 18 which are normally disposed in coplanar alignment for forming generally a flat plate backing member for receiving and mounting a sponge rubber member 20 which may be of any material but is preferably a foam plastic material which is both flexible and resilient and capable of absorbing a relatively large quantity of liquid. As seen in Figure 3, the sections 16 and 18 overlap each other for a considerable distance and are flexibly interconnected by a pair of flexible straps 22 for permitting the first section 16 to swing downwardly into underlying relation to the second section 18 for squeezing the sponge member 20.

The handle 14 includes an elongated tubular member 24 which may be constructed of metal or other similar material with the tubular member 24 having a flat forwardly extending lower end 26 through which extends a fastener 28 having a wing nut 30 thereon for securing the elongated member 24 to the backing member 12. The other end of the tubular member 24 is provided with a closure cap 32 screw threaded thereon with the closure cap 32 having a central opening 34 therein for receiving a flexible line 36 which may be preferably nylon cord or similar strong material having a high degree of flexibility. The cord 36 extends into a socket 38 in a spherical member 40 with the cord 36 being knotted as indicated by the numeral 42 for setting in the recess 38 thus securing the spherical ball 40 to the cord 36 as clearly shown in Figure 2 wherein the ball 40 will form a handle for moving the line or cord 36 longitudinally of the elongated tubular member 24.

The lower end of the cord 36 extends exteriorly of the elongated tubular member 24 through a grommet 44 disposed in an aperture in the tubular member 24. The cord 36 then extends downwardly and forwardly through a vertical groove 46 disposed in the sponge rubber member 26 and the terminal end of the cord 36 is provided with a knot 48 received in a socket 50 on the upper surface of the front section 16 with the cord 36 being disposed within a vertical groove 52 when the knot 48 is disposed in the socket 50. It is noted in Figure 3 that the groove 46 does not go all of the way through the sponge rubber member 20 except at the forward end thereof and the socket 50 will retain the knot 48 attached to the front section 16 even when the front section 16 has been pivoted completely in underlying relation to the rear section 18 as clearly shown in dotted lines in Figure 3.

With the above construction, movement of the knob or spherical ball 40 in a direction away from the cap 32 will cause linear movement of the flexible cord 36. Movement of the cord 36 will cause the front section 16 to swing about a generally longitudinal axis to a position underlying the rear section 18 thus compressing the sponge rubber member 20 and squeezing excessive water and liquid therefrom.

While the term sponge rubber has been used in connection with the member 20, it is pointed out that this may be any expanded resilient material and the backing member may be constructed of any suitable material such as metal, plastic or the like. With the present invention, it is unnecessary to stoop down to the mop head in order to squeeze the excess water from the sponge rubber member and it also is unnecessary to bring the hand into engagement with either section of the mop head when squeezing the same.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation. shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

In a mop, a head comprising front and rear plate sections, respectively, hinged together for swinging of the front plate section downwardly and rearwardly under the rear plate section, a flexible resilient, liquid-absorbing member bonded to and beneath said plate sections for folding upon itself to wring the same in response to swinging of said front plate section under the rear plate section, an elongated tubular handle terminally fixed to and inclining upwardly and rearwardly from said rear plate section, and means for swinging said front plate section comprising an apertured bottom guide in said handle in the rear of and adjacent said rear plate section, a front edge, open bottom socket in said front plate section, a bottom, open ended groove in said member opening upwardly and communicating with said socket, and a pull cord extending forwardly through said handle and downwardly out of said guide and through said groove into said socket with an enlarged end seating in said socket.

I? References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Sendler June 6, 1933 Bitzer et a1. Nov. ,16, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS Switzerland Aug. 2, 1954 Germany Mar. 30, 1935 Great Britain Feb. 18, 1953 France Jan. 21, 1953 

